Explorations in Arthurian Legends
The Things
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- Dolorous
Stroke: the stabbing of Pellam
by Balin
with the Lance
of Longinus. The Stroke
destroyed three countries and created the Waste Land,
making the Grail Quest necessary. Click here
and here
and here
for more and here
to read Merlin's
prophecy from Malory.
- Excalibur:
magical sword drawn by Arthur from the stone OR given to
Arthur by the Lady of the Lake. Malory includes both
accounts. The name is based on Geoffrey of Monmouth's
Caliburn, which itself might have been based the famous
Irish sword Caladbolg. Legend has it that the sword was
thrown by Bedivere into the Lake and (some sources say)
caught by the Lady of the Lake. Its scabbard also made
the wearer unable to bleed from wounds. Click
here
and here
for more.
- Holy
Grail: according to legend the cup used by Jesus at
the Last Supper and later by his followers to catch his
blood while he was being crucified. Tradition has it that
Joseph
of Arimathea brought the Grail
to England. Perceval
began as the Grail Knight was soon displaced by
Galahad.
We first glimpse the grail story in Chretien
de Troyes's poem "Le Conte du
Graal." Christian overtones entered the story with
Robert
de Boron's poem "Joseph
d/Arimathie." Subsequent stories added the element that
only Galahad
could look into the Grail and behold the divine mysteries
that cannot be put into words. Click here
and here
and here
and here
for more, as well as examine the claim of
Glastonbury.
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- Questing
Beast: the offspring of a girl and the Devil. It had
the head of a snake, the body of a leopard, the
hindquarters of a lion, and the feet of a hart. It got
its name from the sound its stomach made, as the sound of
40 hounds baying, or questing. Arthur is said to have
fought it. In T.H. White, King
Pellinore is said to be
pursuing the Questing Beast. Click here
and here
for more.
- Round
Table: first mentioned in Wace's
Roman de Brut. The idea was that the table, being
round, would have no head, or place of prominence.
Arthur's strategy was to reinforce the idea that none of
the barons or dukes or other nobles who sat there would
be seen to occupy places of importance greater than any
other. Robert
de Boron's poem "Joseph
dArimathie" talks of a table that Joseph was commanded to
make in commemoration of the Last Supper; further, Joseph
was to leave a place vacant, symbolizing the seat of
Judas. This was the Siege Perilous, which could
not be occupied except by the Grail hero. Anyone else who
sat there, legend had it, would die. (Galahad,
being the Grail hero of later legends, sat there and was
unharmed.) Since the Vulgate cycle and certainly in the
Malory
tradition, the Round Table has been said to have been a
dowry from King
Leodegrance for his daughter
Guinevere's
wedding to Arthur. The city of Winchester
still sports a Round Table, although it has been dated to
the 13th century. Click here
and here
for more.
- Siege
Perilous: seat at the Round Table where only the
Grail hero could sit without dying. Merlin
named it. Galahad
sat in it and survived; Brumart, a nephew of King
Claudas, sat in it and died. Robert
de Boron says Perceval
sat in it.
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- Sword
in the Stone: legend begun by Robert
de Boron and perpetuated by
Malory.
Click here
and here
for more.
- Table
of Wandering Companions: table where sat knights who
were hoping to become Round Table knights.
- Thirteen
Treasures of Britain: Dyrnwyn, sword of Rhydderch
Hael; the hamper of Gwyddno Garanhir; the horn of Bran
Galad; the chariot of Morgan; the halter of Clydno
Eiddyn; the knife of Laufrodedd; the cauldron of Diwrnach
the giant; the whetstone of Tudwal Tudglyd; the coat of
Padarn Redcoat; the crock of Rhygenydd; the dish of
Rhygenydd; the Gwyddbwll board of Gwenddolau; and
Arthur's mantle of invisibility. Merlin
is said to have taken all these things and hidden them in
his castle of glass. Click here
and here
for more.
- White
Stag: It was said that whoever hunted down a white
stag could kiss the loveliest girl in Arthur's court. The
title character chased one in Chretien's
Erec; in the Didot Perceval, Perceval cut
off the head of one. In The Mists of Avalon, the
mating of Arthur and Morgaine at Beltane was the
enactment of a White Stag ritual. Click here
and here
for more.
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